Thoma Bravo Buys Darktrace in Strategic Deal

Thoma Bravo has made a significant move in the cybersecurity space with the acquisition of Darktrace. Thoma Bravo is a private equity firm known for its strategic investments in the tech industry.

The acquisition is a major coup for Darktrace, a leading provider of AI-powered cybersecurity solutions. Darktrace's technology is used by over 4,000 organizations worldwide to detect and respond to cyber threats.

Thoma Bravo's investment in Darktrace is expected to accelerate the company's growth and expansion plans.

Darktrace was founded in 2013 by a team of entrepreneurs, mathematicians, and intelligence experts, with Poppy Gustafsson being a key member.

Poppy Gustafsson grew up in Cambridgeshire and obtained a degree in mathematics from the University of Sheffield, later qualifying as an accountant with Deloitte.

She worked for Armadeus Capital and Autonomy before co-founding Darktrace at the age of 30, alongside Jack Stockdale.

Gustafsson was honoured with an OBE for services to cybersecurity in 2019, six years after Darktrace was founded.

Darktrace's initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in April 2021 valued the company at £1.7bn, a significant milestone under Gustafsson's leadership.

Under her leadership, the company grew from a small start-up to a global player with a market capitalisation of around £7bn at its peak.

Jill Popelka is the new CEO of Darktrace, taking over from Poppy. She joined Darktrace as a non-executive director at the beginning of the year and became COO in June.

Popelka's impressive background includes stints at Accenture, SAP SuccessFactors, and Snap Inc. She was president of SAP SuccessFactors, one of the largest enterprise cloud businesses in the world.

Darktrace's board and Thoma Bravo, the company's partner, are fully supportive of Popelka's leadership. Andrew Almeida, a partner at Thoma Bravo, praises Popelka as the perfect leader to build on Poppy's legacy at Darktrace.

Popelka is confident in Darktrace's unique technology and talented team, which she believes will drive the company's continued success.

Thoma Bravo has been on a buying spree in the cybersecurity sector, with a string of high-profile acquisitions under its belt.

The private equity firm has spent tens of billions of dollars acquiring companies like SailPoint for $6.9 billion and Ping Identity for $2.8 billion.

In 2021, Thoma Bravo was part of a record-breaking year for merger and acquisition activity in the cybersecurity sector, with $77.5 billion in M&A volume.

The firm has also invested heavily in Proofpoint, acquiring it for $12.3 billion.

Through the end of the first quarter of 2022, Momentum Cyber reported $12.2 billion in M&A activity in the cybersecurity sector.

Thoma Bravo's acquisition spree has been a major driver of growth in the cybersecurity industry, with the firm's investments helping to fuel innovation and expansion.

The Darktrace acquisition, if it had gone through as planned, would have added yet another company to Thoma Bravo's rapidly growing roster of cybersecurity acquisitions.

Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm, acquired Darktrace in 2022 for $1.65 billion. Darktrace is a cybersecurity company that specializes in AI-powered threat detection.

Their technology uses machine learning to identify and respond to cyber threats in real-time. Darktrace's Enterprise Immune System can detect anomalies in a company's network, identifying potential threats before they cause harm.

The acquisition marked a significant milestone for Thoma Bravo, which has been investing in the cybersecurity space for years.